Nunavut's federal candidates on the move
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Nov 13/00) - When Nunavut voters go to the polls to elect their Member of Parliament in two weeks time, it's likely the Alliance party will be absent from the ballot.
That has left at least one member of Canada's newest political party feeling upset with the bureaucracy of Elections Canada.
"I'm absolutely disappointed," said D'Arcy Barker, a member of the Alliance party who recently spent 13 days in Nunavut drumming up a candidate.
Whale Cove resident Agnes Poksiak-Turner took the challenge and submitted her nomination forms. She was all set to go when she received a call from the Elections Canada office in Rankin Inlet the night before the nomination period closed on Nov.6. Officials informed Poksiak-Turner she had failed to get the returning officer or a person who could receive oaths to sign her form.
Barker said Poksiak-Turner hopped onto the next available plane so she could get Sandy Kusugak, Nunavut's returning officer, to sign the form but a delayed flight caused her to miss the 2 p.m. (CST) deadline.
"She walked into the office 34 minutes after 2 p.m. and Sandy Kusugak said no," said Barker, adding that Kusugak could have exercised leniency and allowed Poksiak-Turner to file her papers late. He was also upset that the officials didn't inform Poksiak-Turner about the signature until 9 p.m. Sunday night.
Kusugak was unavailable for comment.
"No one is arguing about the 2 p.m. deadline or about the need for signatures, but why did they wait so long to inform us of the problem?" he asked.
"That's totally unacceptable. Because they waited so long the problem became unsolvable."
Barker took the matter to Jean Pierre Kingsley, Canada's chief electoral officer, last week but Kingsley refused to allow Poksiak-Turner to enter the race.
"He absolutely refused on the grounds that (the nomination papers) were 34 minutes late and on the grounds of not getting the signature before 2 p.m. (CST)," said Barker.
The Alliance party went back to Kingsley with more arguments late in the week, but they hadn't heard anything from him as of Friday morning.
Poksiak-Turner also said she was disappointed.
"Of course I am, very much so. Anybody would be when they received so much support," she said from her home in Whale Cove.
Poksiak-Turner said if she was not permitted to run in the Nov.27 election, she would set her sights on the next federal race.
"I'm not going to give up. I'll run again in the next election for the Alliance party. I'll start off early. Next time I'll know better," she said.
And then there were four
Meanwhile, with just fourteen days left to kiss babies and knock on doors, the four federal candidates are in the throes of campaigning.
Three of the four competitors are new to the world of elected office, but Liberal MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell is well known and politically seasoned. She also has a campaign budget that has allowed her to travel through each of the three regions extensively.
Karetak-Lindell, who officially opened her campaign headquarters in Iqaluit Friday night, said she felt secure Nunavummiut would give her the opportunity to continue her work as the territory's MP.
"My record speaks for itself. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the communities," she said.
Brian Jones, a resident of Cambridge Bay and the candidate for the Green Party, wants a shot at doing Karetak-Lindell's job, but doesn't expect to win. He's running to get the party on the ballot for the first time and raising awareness about environmental issues.
Mike Sherman of Iqaluit threw his hat into the ring on behalf of the Progressive Conservative Party.
Sherman said his campaign would focus on Nunavut's housing issues and actually doing something concrete about the drastic shortage.
"There's been enough studying. Now it's time to do something," he said.
NDP candidate and Iqaluit resident Palluq Susan Enuaraq thought she might be able to get out to visit voters in all three regions, but she was waiting to find out how much cash she'd have to campaign with.
Enuaraq said she'd be chatting voters up on the issues of housing, health care and the environment.
"Those are the top three for me," she said.
